Running to BPM

Tuesday's breakfast was a smoothie made almond milk, PlantFusion protein powder, basil, celery, orange, blueberries, and ginger. For some reason, this smoothie was really cold. It was still delicious, it just took a little longer to drink trying to avoid getting a brain freeze!

I had the turkey mixture for lunch, and had an afternoon snack of an apple with some Justin's Honey Peanut Butter.

When I got home from work, the tempature was around 80 and was perfect for a run. So I quickly changed and grabbed Roxie for a run.

I was really trying to focus on my stride during this run and I think it worked out pretty well. I was pretty pleased with the run as my pace was faster per mile. After my run, I did some stretches, rolled out my shins and calves, and rested on the floor with my Roxie for a bit while I read an article on Shape Magazine's website with a top 10 list of 80's workout songs according to RunHundred.com. Who doesn't love the 80's? If you don't, I would make an appointment to see your doctor... Just kidding! Ok, not really.

Anyway, the article contained the top 10 and also listed their Beats Per Minute (BPM). Haven't heard about BPM? I talked a little bit about it in a post from over a year ago. Well, now that I am offically back into running - yes, it took me over a year to get back to it - I started thinking about my running music and how it can affect my running pace. The question is, what BPM is best for my pace?

I looked online and found a couple of different a sites that talked about it. eHow has a relativly short post on how to figure it out, and SelfGrowth has a longer post but gives a chart that shows steps per minute (or BPM) with the MPH for walking, running, and cycling. At this point it seems that I should be choosing songs with a 150 BPM.

If you read my previous blog post, you would know that I have had downloaded the trial version of beaTunes that would do the BPM for my music libaray; however, my computer crashed and I no longer have it. I might conisder downloading it again and paying the price unless I can find another similar website to use. You could also use RunHundred.com or jog.fm to find songs that match your deisred BPM.

What I am I really interested in is a site and/or program that would allow me to edit songs for a playlist. For example, when I'm doing my run/walk days it would be nice to be able to have the playlist set up to change songs for each run/walk time so I know when to change. I haven't looked into it yet, but will when I have some more time.

My tummy grumbled and I knew it was time to cook up some dinner. I made some spicy-ranch chicken and bell pepper, served on a bed of lettuce topped with salsa and cheese. I typically serve it with a gluten-free tortilla but I needed to cut back some calories so I did lettuce instead. It was just as delicious as before!

Question: Do you run with BPM or make edited playlists? What sites and/or programs do you use? Let me know in the comments below!

Running Music

My friend Angi is awesome. If you don't know her, you should.

A few days ago she posted to her blog about running music. Not sure how she came across it, oh wait, yes I do. She's just that cool. She finds the coolest things all the time. I don't know if I just don't have the patience to explore or what, but I am always stealing her ideas.

Anyway, she found a website called jog.fm which lists songs and their beats per minute (BPM), and then gives you suggestions on what songs/BPM would be best for your pace. They have compiled lists for walking, running, and cycling. How cool is that?

I for one think it's an awesome tool since I am horrible at pacing myself. I'm not sure if this will help me keep a better pace or not, but I'm certainly willing to try. So I checked out the website today. I love their idea. I love the fact that I can type in my pace and it pulls up numerous playlists for me to choose from. The only issue I have is that you have to purchase the lists. I don't know about you but I don't have tons of money to spend on new playlists. Not only that but the list might include songs I don't like. It would take far too long to compare my music library with the songs listed on the website to get the BPM.

So I did some searching of my own and found a website called beaTunes.com that runs your current music library through its software and determines the BPM and has many other cool features. I decided I would give it a try today and ran my entire music library though it. You can download a 14-day trial version to start and it gives you the basic features. It also shows you what else it is capable of: finding duplicate songs or discrepencies, however, those features are not unlocked in the trial version. After the trial is up or if you HAVE to have all the features to start, you can purchase it for $31.95.

I wasn't super concerned about unlocking ALL the features right now so I opted for the trail only version. I also didn't want it to take all day to complete, so I chose to analyze my playlist right in the middle to start. If I think it helps, I will do the more accurate option for the BPM I need.

This is what my playlist looked like when my library had been fully analyzed :

The BPM in my library range from 70 - 140 and the color codes, according to the website, are used to show you what songs sound more alike the others. For example, reds sound more alike then green.

I'm excited to try this out and I hope it helps! I need to get my butt back into gear and start training for.... well, for something. Haven't decided what races I will be doing this year, but its never too early to start!